I have nothing against hunting, I used to do it myself. But bow hunting is allowed down here (where A.L.F. is located) from about September until the end of December. Now you take your average die-hard hunter who has his or hers favorite tree, hikes in before sunrise, and then out before noon, and in again before sunset, and out again after dark. Do you think a trail will be created!
Do you think cachers would create this kind of traffic in a four month period. This is not to mention that cachers don't climb the trees, and they don't shoot at the wildlife. And they call it a Wildlife Refuge.
I am not a tree hugger, nor an animal activist, but I just do not get why there should be anything wrong with geocaching in and carrying trash out in our NWRs. It is mainly a lack of knowledge and education on the administrators part as to the positives of geocaching and how much it is a family friendly activity.
I love this area around this cache(A.L.F.) I have pulled a cache that I had nearby to comply with the law. But I really would not have participated in this activity if I really thought that it would harm the area around it. In fact, an area around a cache site is usually cleaner than other areas of parks.
I will work on making my cache in this area a virtual cache. There is too much history down here. Is anyone interested in seeing: old farm homesteads with buildings still standing, the site of a Dakota indian village, indian burial mounds, the site of an early 1800s trading post, a huge rock bigger than most houses, old dumps with interesting things to look at, and even the location of some natural springs.

Bobhiker, Yes, I'm interested. Those sites are a good part of why my family geocaches. Of all the posts Ive read on the big forums board, I think your post here states the case better and more appropriately than most. Simple and to the point. Please consider cross posting it._________________Save the earth.
It's the only planet with chocolate.

Please don't break your arm trying to pat yourselves on your back. Silent Bob, I frequently hear a tone to your posts that leads me to believe you consider yourself an "Enlightened" person. Feel free to think that you are being "called out" on making terribly incorrect stereo-types of hunting sportsmen and Women. Yeah, were all a bunch of beer swilling bubbas wiling to take pot-shots at anything that crawls, walks or flys. If people with that self righteous attitude stepped outside of there glorious land of make believe, they'd see just how wrong they are.

I'll bet you a weeks salary that I do more, and contribute more to the environment than you do at any point over the last 20 years of my life. Proceeds of said wager go to any NWR you choose.

Sorry gang, but I like rules. It's what prevents hunters from building platforms in the trees for deer hunting and leaving them year-round. And I can imagine a skilled laywer arguing that a Geocache isn't really all that much different from the abandoned car their client left in the NWR.

I love geocaching. I love hunting. I love a healthy, natural eco-system. And FYI to all the self-righteous cachers out there, I'm not the only one........
Your Halo is dimming...........

P.S. I don't have to look very far to find posts about geocachers leaving waste and trash where it doesn't belong. Littering is littering. Bad behavior is just that.
Now feel free to flame._________________"You cannot reason a person out of a position they did not reason themselves into"

I am all for rules and following them also. I was not ripping on hunters in my above post. I just wanted to compare one activity that is allowed to one that is not. Hunting is nessesary to regulate game numbers and there is a whole book of rules to follow. I was comparing a hunters favorite tree to a cache. I do not believe there is a rule limiting a tree to single use hunting. Therefore I am assuming most hunters return to their favorite tree several times. This is not bad, but I was just comparing it to the traffic and the formation of a trail to a cache. Hunting is allowed, caching is not. Huh.

Today me and my daughter went snow shoeing in the wildlife refuge. We went to the refuge headquarters just south of 494 next to the airport, and they have free use of snow shoes. You just need a drivers license and then you can check them out for the day.
I asked the ranger on duty where we could go. She said, "Just go down the trail until you see the sign strung across it that says the trail is closed. Then go under the rope and then go where ever you want."

We snow shoed everywhere but on the trail! And it was OK. Interesting.